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FEDERAL COURT
SAN YGNACIO
Guilty of conspiracy
$1M of pot seized
Colorado soldier convicted in murder-for-hire scheme By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
LAREDO — U.S. Army Sgt. Samuel Walker was convicted Thursday of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. Prosecutors alleged
Walker, 29, and several others came to Laredo in March to carry out a contract killing for undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agents, posing as Zeta drug cartel members, in exchange for drugs and cash.
SAMUEL WALKER: Convicted of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. Following a seven-day trial and 11 hours of deliberation, a federal jury
found Walker, a soldier from Colorado Springs, Colo., guilty of conspiracy to commit murderfor-hire. Also, co-defendant Calvin “Beef ” Epps, 28, was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine
and marijuana and possession with intent to distribute marijuana in the same plot. Both Walker and Epps were additionally convicted of possessing a fire-
See GUILTY PAGE 6A
Agents find weed in 12 cable spools By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS
HONORING THE DECEASED
Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times
U.S. Border Patrol agents seized marijuana worth more than $1 million and arrested a Laredo man Monday afternoon near San Ygnacio. Agents conducting roving patrol at about 3 p.m. in northern Zapata County noticed a suspicious white 2001 Ford F250 pickup pulling a 16-foot flatbed trailer loaded with 12 spools of coaxial cable. The driver, later identified as 30-year-old Jesus Angel Hernandez, appeared surprised when he saw the marked units and tapped on his brakes, jerking his steering wheel towards the shoulder of the road, a Border Patrol news release stated. Agents also noticed the Ford pickup had inconsistent model decals on it, according to federal authorities. “Some decals indicated that the truck was an F150 and others that it was an F250,” the criminal complaint states. Upon checking the license plate on the pickup, agents notice the information returned indicated the plates belonged to a gray Ford pickup and not a white F150. Given the inconsistencies, agents conducted an immigration inspection of the driver. Federal authorities identified him as Her-
Isabel Perez and her family decorate the resting place of a loved one in honor of Dia De Los Muertos at the City of Laredo Cemetery on Friday morning, in Laredo. See MARIJUANA PAGE 9A
MEXICO’S DAY OF THE DEAD
Day brings sad memories of the missing By MARK STEVENSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY — Maria Elena Salazar refuses to set out plates of her missing son’s favorite foods or orange flowers as offerings for the deceased on Mexico’s Day of the Dead, even though she hasn’t seen him in three-and-a-half years. The 50-year-old former teacher is convinced that Hugo Gonzalez Salazar, a university graduate in marketing who worked for a
telephone company, is still alive and being forced to work for a drug cartel because of his skills. “The government, the authorities, they know it, that the gangs took them away to use as forced labor,” said Salazar of her then 24-year-old son, who disappeared in the northern city of Torreon in July 2009. The Day of the Dead — when Mexicans traditionally visit the graves of dead relatives and leave offer-
“
The government, the authorities, they know it, that the gangs took them away to use as forced labor.” MARIA ELENA SALAZAR, MOTHER OF HUGO GONZALEZ SALAZAR, A MISSING MAN
ings of flowers, food and candy skulls — is a difficult time for the families of
the thousands of Mexicans who have disappeared amid a wave of drug-fueled
violence. With what activists call a mix of denial, hope and desperation, they refuse to dedicate altars on the Nov. 1-2 holiday to people often missing for years. They won’t accept any but the most certain proof of death. Numbers vary on just how many people have disappeared in recent years. Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission says 24,000 people have been reported missing between 2000 and mid-2012, and that
nearly 16,000 bodies remain unidentified. An investigation conducted by the newspaper Milenio, involving hundreds of information requests to state and municipal governments, indicates that 24,102 unidentified bodies were buried in paupers’ or common graves in Mexican cemeteries since 2006. The number is almost certainly incomplete, since some local governments refused to provide figures, Milenio reported.